BBC SPRINGWATCH has revealed a deadly threat to some of Britain’s fastest vanishing birds – sheep. Incredible scenes of livestock tucking into the precious eggs of a red listed curlew highlight the dangers faced by these rare upland birds.

Even lambs can cause devastation, with shocking footage on the BBC flagship nature programme showing them trampling the nests of red-listed species.

Viewers have been left spellbound by gripping scenes of a lapwing trying to save its eggs from being smashed by a curious lamb to no avail.

While gambolling lambs are an accidental risk, scenes of sheep tucking into the eggs of a curlew have left Springwatch presenter Chris Packham astounded.

The plight of the curlew, famed for it long bill and haunting song, has become one of the British conservation issues of the age with numbers down by 65 per cent in recent decades. Environmental action plans are in place to help its recovery.

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Scenes of sheep tucking into the eggs of a curlew have left Springwatch Chris Packham astonished (Image: GETTY[STOCK IMAGE])

Let’s be clear, these are herbivores, they are not going out nest hunting

Chris Packham

Yet while expanding forests, drying soils and overgrazing are putting this upland bird in jeopardy, incredible footage showing a sheep feasting on curlew eggs puts another question mark over the bird’s future, especially when the last 68,000 pairs share the countryside with 33 million ewes.

A short clip from the researchers at the University of East Anglia working the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds showing a sheep eating curlew eggs was aired on the latest edition of Springwatch, sparking a heated conservation debate online about the risks of farming to the countryside.

Explaining possible reasons for the sheep eating curlew eggs, presenter Chris Packham told viewers: “Let’s be clear, these are herbivores, they are not going out nest hunting.

"What we think is happening is that sheep are coming across these nests and there is some nutrient deficiency in their diet, it may be calcium in the egg shells, and this is leading them to eat them.

“Given that we have 33 million sheep and only 68,000 curlews, it would be interesting to know what impact sheep may be having on our wading bird population, if any.”

At the RSPB, the Springwatch scenes of nests and eggs being destroyed by sheep and lambs highlights the double-edged sword of managed landscapes.

A spokeswoman for the conservation charity explained: “Once again, BBC Springwatch has done an amazing job at bringing to life for millions of people the often astonishing and counter-intuitive world of British wildlife, and in this case its interactions with the human world in the form of domestic livestock.

“With around three quarters of UK landscape being farmed and lapwings and curlews, like most waders, being ground nesting birds that need short grass to watch their nest and lay their eggs, grazing livestock such as sheep play an important role in creating the perfect habitat for them.

“So, while as the BBC have shown us in typically jaw-dropping fashion, there is some risk to the birds from livestock, they also depend on them for the creation of their nesting habitat.”